A short story from The Metropolitan Review depicts three writers—a screenwriter, novelist, and poet—attempting to kidnap Sam Altman from his Napa Valley ranch. Their plan is to halt AI development, but their reconnaissance reveals a fortified perimeter and a crucial flaw: they need a plan. In a darkly comic twist, they turn to ChatGPT for tactical advice, only for the AI to refuse due to its safety guardrails.

The narrative satirizes the creative industry's anxiety over AI's disruptive potential. The screenwriter imagines AI generating his entire unrealized filmography, but fears an overwhelming glut of content that would collapse the ecosystem. The poet, meanwhile, represents a legacy of human creativity, now threatened by algorithmic efficiency. The story frames the AI debate as a performative, almost theatrical, gesture rather than a practical solution.

Ultimately, the plot collapses under its own irony. The writers, armed only with a replica mace and outdated technology, cannot even access the AI to plan their crime. The story serves as a commentary on the helplessness felt by artists in the face of technological change, where grand gestures and historical parallels feel futile against the silent, immediate power of a machine that refuses to comply.